Improvement in sewing-machines



E. HOWE, Jr; Sewing Machine.

Patented Jany 20 ,1857.

i Z 1 J. 2 A. e G I i x m Ad 5!? Y 1. P W F I n -1114 J O '2 afrontelevation I ereof.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ELIAS HOXVE, JR., OF BROOKLYN, NEW

IMPROVE MENT I N SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 16,436, dated January20, 1857.

1'0 rzZZ whom, it may cancer/t:

Be it known that I, ELIAS HowE, J r., of the city of Brooklyn, county ofKings, and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Sewing-Machines, of which the following is a full,clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings, in which- Figure 1 represents a plan of a sewing-machineembodying my improvement. Fig. 2 is Fig. 3 is a vertical longitudinalsection of the same at the line 00 w of Fig. 1; and Fig. 4 is afull-sized view of V a needle suitable for a full-sized machine.

My invention relates to a sewing-machine in i which the thread is passedto and fro entirely through the cloth by means of a double-pointedneedle having an eye at the middle of its length, so as to form stitchesthe same as are produced by hand-sewing.

My invention consists in drawing the slack or surplus thread through thecloth by means of an apparatus which is separate from the needle, but isoperated in connection with the mechanism that actuates the needle, sothat when the needle has passed the bite or loop of thread through thecloth the drawing apparatus draws the surplus thread through andrelieves the mechanism that actuates the needle of this duty. As by thisinvention the duty of the needle is simply to insert the thread throughthe cloth and present it to the drawing apparatus, the needle need notbe moved from the cloth farther than is necessary to clear the surfacethereof and carry through sufficient thread to form a short loop whichthe drawing apparatus can seize. The amount of movement for this purposeis invariable,.whether the thread belong or short, and as the drawingapparatus operates upon the surplus thread that trails from the eye ofthe needle, so that there is no danger of draw-- ing the thread out ofthe needle, a surplus motion in the drawing apparatus is nodisadvantage; hence this motion may also be invariable whether thethread be long or short. A

machine, therefore, upon this principle may be built without arrangingany portion of the mechanism to compensate the progressive diminution inthe length of the thread as it is used up in forming the seam.

The machine represented in the accompanying drawings embodies myimprovement. In

| it the cloth to be sewed is extended upon a table, A, to-which theother portions of the machine are made fast, and the sewing is of fectednear the front end of the table, where the cloth is held in its place bymeans of a presser-foot, B. This foot is supported by an arm, 0, thatextends forward from the hinder end of the table, and it is caused tobear upon the cloth by means of a spring. The needle employed is pointedat both ends, and has an eye at the center of its length to receive thethread, as shown at Fig. 4, This needle is seized alternately by twopairs of nippers, D and D, which are situated at opposite sides of thecloth, and which alternately push'the needle into the cloth. andwithdraw it therefrom. Each pair of nippers is composed of a hand orhollow fixed jaw, which is secured to the extremity of an arm, and of agripping-j aw that seizes the needle between it and the hand. The arm Eof the upper pair of nippers prois made fast, and the arm E of the lowerpair of nippers projects forward from a similar rock-shaft, F, situatedin line with that of the other nipper-arm. Each of these rock-shafts isalso fitted with a shorter arm or foot, by which it is caused to rock,and thus move the nippers toward and from the surface of the cloth toinsert and withdrawthe needle. The foot I) of the roclcshaft of theupper pair of nippers is borne against the periphery of a cam, G,secured upon a revolving drivingshaft, H, that crosses the hinder end ofthe table, and the foot I) of the lower pair of nipcured to the sameshaft. The contact of each foot with its respective cam is maintained bya spring, (1 and d, which, acting upon their respective feet, cause themto move toward the driving-shaft whenever the depresrespective pairs ofnippers from the surface of the cloth. The gripping-jaw of each pair ofnippers is secured to the extremity ofa rod that is moved endwise tocause the jaw to seize the needle or to let it loose. The jaw-rodf ofthe upper pair of nippers is held in its place by guide-lugs that aresecured to its nipperarm E, and through which it slides. Its hinderagainst the rim of a cam, I, secured to the driving-shaft II. This cam,by moving the .jects forward from a rock-shaft, F, to which it 7 pers isborne against a similar cam, G, se-' sions in the cams permit, and thusdraw their extremity is bent downward, and is borne jaw-rod endwisetoward the front of the machine, causes the nippers to seize the needle.As the cam turns and the depressedportion of its rim comes in contactwiththe extremity of the jaw-rod, the latter is'moved toward thedriving-shaft bya spring, which thus causes the jaw to unelose and letloose the needle. The jaw-rod f of the lower pair of nippers slides inguide-lugs secured to its respective nipper-arm E. Its hinder extremitybears against an appropriatecam, I, upon the'drivshaft,-and it is alsofitted with a spring to maintain its hinder extremity in contact withits cam and move itto open the nippers whenever the depression of thecam permits.

The drawing of the slack thread through the cloth is effected by avibrating finger, which, engaging in the loop of thread formed close tothe cloth at each alternate passage of the needle, and then recedingfrom the cloth, pulls the thread through and tightens the stitch. In themachine now under consideration the finger a is secured to the frontextremityof an arm, J, which projects forward from a rock-shaft, K, thatis supported in suitable bearings at the hinder extremity of themachine, and this rock-shaft is caused to rock and move the finger upand down by securing an arm, h, to one of its ends, and by connectingthis arm by a link, Z, with the pin ofa crank, m, which is secured tothe adjacent end of the drivingshaft.

In order to form a loop of thread in which the point of the finger a canengage, the cam G, that operates the lower pair of nippers, is

formed in such manner that it permits the nippers to move the needlefrom the cloth a little farther than is necessary to withdraw the needletherefrom, and then forces the nippers to move the needle a slightdistance toward the cloth, thus shortening the distance from the eye ofthe needle to the cloth and causing the bight of thread extendingthrough the eye to shorten and open. This movement of the nippers iseffected-by a depression formed in the rim of the cam, in which the footof the rockshaft of the nip'per-arm is received at the proper moment,and the depression is succeeded by a more potuberant portion, which,acting upon the foot, causes the nippers to carry the needle toward thecloth. In order to cause the point of the finger to engage in the loopthus formed, a lateral movement is imparted to it. This lateral movementis obtained by means of an inclined guide, n, which is secured to thelower side of the table-top in such a position that as the finger-arm iscompleting its upward stroke it comes in contact with the inclined faceof the guidea, which bears it laterally from the lower nippersyand thuscan ries the finger out of the range of the needle. In order to permitthis lateral movement, the

finger is connected with its arm J by meansof a spring-plate, c, which,although rigid in a vertical direction, is sufficiently flexible topermit it to yield laterally as it is moved upward in contact with theinclined face of the guide a, and is sufficiently elastic to resume itsform, and thus move the finger again laterally into the loop or bight ofthread upon the needle as the spring-plate is carried downward by thefinger-arm along the inclined face of the guide.

The feeding of the cloth is effected in a continuous manner by means ofa revolving disk whose face has a series of spiral ribs formed upon it.This disk 1? is concentric, or thereabout, with the needle, and it issunk in a recess formed in the table beneath the presserfoot B. It isperforated at its. center to revolve upon a boss, g, which is held inits place by a bridge, 0, that crosses the socket in which the disk issunk. The disk has also a rim, T, which projects downward from itsperiphery, and is grooved to receive a band by which motion is impartedto the disk. This band is passed round the groove of the disk and rounda similar groove, 6, formed in the drivingshaft, so that by therevolution of the latter the disk is caused to revolve in the directionindicated by the arrow in the drawings. As the disk revolves the spiral"ribs upon its upper surface act upon the cloth, which is pressed uponthem by the finger of the operator, and cause it to move in any requireddirection according to-the portion of'the disk upon which the pressureis made. Thus, if the pressure of the finger be applied to the rightside of the Presser-foot, the cloth will be moved from left to right; ifit be applied to the left side of the presser-foot, the cloth will bemoved from right to left. In the same manner the cloth may be made tomove either from or toward the operator, or at any inclination to thesedirections, by simply applying the pressure of the finger to the clothupon the disk at that side of the presser-foot toward which the cloth isto be moved. As the feeding-disk revolves continuously, the feed of thecloth will also be continuous, provided the pressure of the finger beuninterrupted and as this is the case,

in practice it is necesary that the needle should have a slight lateralmovement imparted to it, so as to take the set back, as it is termed inhand-sewing, in sewing a back-stitch. This lateral movement also, inconnectionwith the feeding of the cloth from'or toward thedriving-shaft, will cause the needle to pass alternately through thecloth and outside of its edge, thus producing an over-andover or whipstitch. As the feed is continuous, it would also seem necessary toimpart a lateral movement to the needle while it is passing through thecloth, so as to cause it to move with the cloth, and thus preventthelatter fromwrinkling against it or from straining the needle by itspressure against it; but in practice the passage of the needle throughthe cloth is so instantaneous that a lateral movement for this purposeis-not found necessary. There remains, therefore, only the lateralmovement required to sew back-stitch and whip-stitch, or sewing of thesedescriptions, to be provided for in the machine, and this frame in onedirection, while the cam moves it.

- returned entirely through the cloth the cam causes the needle to becarried back in an oplateral motion must be reciprocating in order Ithat the needle may pierce the cloth alternately at the same pointsbeneath the presserfoot. In order to effect this reciprocating lateralmovement of the needle, the rockshafts F F of the arms of the nippersare mounted in a frame, R, which oscillates upon two pivots, s s, sothat by turning this frame upon its pivots the nippers are caused tomove horizontally over the table. The turning of the oscillating framein one directionis effected by means of a cam, T, upon thedriving-shaft, which acts upon a stud or wiper, 1 secured to one side ofthe oscillating frame. This wiper is pressed against the periphery ofthe cam by means of a spring, a, which acts in opposition to the cam,and thus moves the oscillating in the other. By these two movements thenipper-armsare caused to vibrate to and fro over the table, and theextent and character of the vibrations are governed by the form of thecam T.

A regulatingscrew may also be attached to the frame R, to bear againstsome stationary portion of the machine before the wiper reaches thelowest portion of the cam, and thus limit the movement of the frame Runder the action of the spring at, so that the projection of the mostprotuberant portion of the cam will determine the movement of the framein one di-' rection, and the adjustment of the regulatingscrew willdetermine the movement in the opposite direction. Inback-stitching theform of the cam is such that after the needle has been passed throughthe cloth it is carried laterally a short distance in the direction inwhich the cloth is moving, but at a faster rate, so that when the needlereturns through the cloth it has carried the thread over a portion ofthe seam already formed, and after the needle has posite direction tothe feed to the place where the needle first pierced the cloth. In orderto permit of this lateral movement of the needle, the hole in the boss qthrough which it passes is elongated, andthe hole in the presserfoot Bis elongated in a similar manner.

\Vhen the machine is to be used, the driving-shaft H is turned by meansof its crankhandle V in the direction indicated by the arrow appliedthereto until the upper nippers is at its farthest distance from thesurface of the table. A threadedneedle is then applied to the uppernippers by drawing back its movable jaw by hand and allowing it to closeupon the needle placed between it and the hollow jaw. The needle must beapplied in such manner that its lower point is asufficient distanceabove the feed-disk to permit afree movement of the cloth, and thethread passed through the eye of the needle must not be longer thantwice the distance to which the fingera is moved from the lower face ofthe cloth. In threading the needle the thread is only passed a shortdistance through the eyesay about pers, this short end of thread must beat that side of the needle which is farthest from the operator. Thecloth to be sewed is inserted between the pre'sser-foot and thefeed-disk,

and the finger of the'operator is pressed lightly upon the short end ofthread in the needle to keep it from being drawn through the cloth,while the various parts of the machine are put in motion by turning thedriving-shaft H either by hand, by means of a treadle driven by the footof the operator, or by motive power. As the driving-shaft turns, thecams upon it, in connection with the various springs which act inopposition to the cams, impart motion to the various operating membersof the machine. The needle is forced downward through the cloth,carrying the thread with it in its eye. As the needle-point passesthrough the cloth it enters the j aws of the lower nippers, which areopened to receive it by the action of the cam operating upon the rod ofthe movable jaw appertaining to these nippers. As soon as the uppernippers arrive at the lowest point of its stroke the lower nippers closeupon the needle, and when this is effected the upper nippers are openedby the operation of their appropriate cam. \Vhen the needle has thusbeen transferred from the upper nippers to the lower, the latter aremoved from the cloth and draw the needle therefrom. nippers are thusmoving away from the cloth the finger at is being moved toward the clothby the turning of the crank m and its connection with the rook-shaft andarm of the finger, and the motion of the finger is so timed withreference to that of the lower nippers that it is just ready to descendwhen the nippers have withdrawn the needle to its farthest limit. Afterthe needle has reached its lowest point it is moved, as beforementioned, slightly toward the cloth, to open the bight of thread in itseye, and as the finger descends after the bight is thus opened, and'asit is at the same time moved laterally by the operation of thespring-plate c and the inclined guide a, the point of the finger engagesin the bight of thread close to the needle. The machine is arranged insuch manner that the finger passes on that side of the needle alongwhich the longer portion of the thread extends; hence as the finger ismoved downward it first elongates the loop, thus tightening the stitch,and finally draws the slack entirely through the cloth. During thismovement of the.thread the lower nippers and the needle therein aremoved laterally from right to left by the oscillation of the frame R,which is effected at this time by the action of the spring a as the cam.T is turned with the driving-shaft, and the least projecting portion ofits rim comes op posite the wiper i, and they reascend after the fingerhas completed its downward stroke.

Vvhile the lower I which is withdrawn in an upward" direction from thecloth by the upward movement of the upper nippers, and as soon as theneedle has cleared the cloth the revolution of the driving-shaft causesthe most projecting portion of the cam ,T to bear against the wiper land move the frame B, so that the nippers and needle are moved laterallyfrom left to right by the returning oscillation of the frame R. Theneedle is then in the position whence it first started, and thedrivingshaft has completed a whole revolution, so that its furthermovements are succeeded by a repetition of the above-mentionedoperations. As the feeding-disk has been turned by the band leading fromthe driving shaft while the needle has been traveling to and fro, asabove mentioned, and as the cloth has been pressed upon by the finger ofthe operator, a new portion of the cloth has been brought within rangeof the needle, to be traversed in turn by the needle and thread. 7

As there is but one drawing-finger in the machine thus described, and asit is situated beneath the table, the slack end of the thread is pulledthrough the cloth only at each alternate passage of the needle when thelatter is at the lower side of the cloth. Experience has demonstrated tome that this is sufficient for ordinary sewing; but it is evident that asec- 0nd finger may be arranged above the table,

to operate in connection with the needle when it is withdrawn by theupper nippers, in which case the slack end of the thread would be pulledthrough the cloth at each passage of the needle. As fast as the threadin a needle is exhausted a fresh threaded needle is applied to themachine, or the one in it is rethreaded; and in order that the nippersmay hold the needle firmly and prevent it from turning laterally intheir jaws, the needle has two recesses or indentations formed in it,the one above and the other below its eye, in which the jaws of thenippers can engage.

The apparatus I have thus described for carrying out my invention issusceptible of modification, and may be changed in various ways to adaptit to different kinds of work or to suit the peculiar views of differentconstructers. Thus, for example, an intermittent feed-motion may beemployed to feed the cloth. So, also, the finger which draws out thethread may be connected with apparatus which revolves continuously. 'Themethod of opening the bight of thread at the eye of the needle may alsobe modified by causing the needle to move laterally in the direction ofthe length of the finger-arm, by which means an opening will bepresented between the needle and the thread for the insertion of thefinger, as shown at Fig. 4, while the thread is under tension.

Having thus described my improved sewingmachine, what I claim as myinvention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

Drawing the thread through the cloth by means of a finger or itsequivalent acting in connection with mechanism which passes the needlethrough the cloth, substantially as herein set forth.

1 ELIAS HOWE, JR. \Vitnesses:

WV. H. PLUMMER,

CHARLES B. NORTON.

